Leaked cables show 'cynicism' of US diplomacy: Medvedev

MOSCOW (AFP) - The US cables released by the WikiLeaks website display the cynicism of US foreign policy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday. We are not paranoid. We do not tie Russia-US relations to any leaks, Medvedev said during a televised Press conference with visiting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. But at the same time, these are indicative, he added. They show the entire extent of the cynicism of these evaluations, these judgements that prevail in the various governments foreign policies - and in this case I am talking about the United States. The US cables described Medvedev as a weak leader who has never assumed full control of Russia from his predecessor and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. They quote one source as saying that Medvedev continues to play Robin to Putins Batman and another as describing the Russian president as indecisive and often looking pale. But Medvedev said that he understood that these things were written in private and that Russian diplomatic correspondence sometimes uses language that is no more forgiving. God forbid if there is ever a leak of what our foreign ministry is saying or the foreign intelligence service, Medvedev said. The US cables are also critical of Berlusconi and his close personal friendship to his fellow 'tycoon Putin. Berlusconi has said little about the WikiLeaks scandal in public and he dismissed the US cables Friday as unprofessional notes written by people who had little understanding of local politics. They take the first thing they see on the front page of a newspaper and transform it into a super-important looking diplomatic cable, Berlusconi said through a Russian translator. We should not be attaching too much importance to these things, but they do irritate. The US cables include one with a set of questions from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton entitled a request for information on Italy-Russia relations. Clinton asked about the basis of the leaders friendship and whether the Italian government had made decisions to benefit Italian business or commercial interests at the expense of political concerns about energy policy. Washington appeared particularly concerned by the Italian prime ministers relations with Putin. One Rome embassy dispatch concluded that the relationship has worked to harm the interests of the United States. Italian foreign policy is highly receptive to Russian efforts to gain greater political influence in the EU and to support Russias efforts to dilute American security interests in Europe, the Rome embassy cable said. Meanwhile, Afghan government officials on Friday hit back at stupid allegations made in leaked US diplomatic cables about corruption but refused to comment on a damning assessment of President Hamid Karzai. Deputy presidential spokesman Hamed Elmi downplayed documents released by Internet whistleblower WikiLeaks as not much new, with nothing substantive to negatively affect our good relations with the international community. In one cable, US envoy Karl Eikenberry portrayed Karzai as paranoid and weak, unfamiliar with the basics of nation building and overly self-conscious that his time of glowing reviews from the West had passed. The Afghan presidency declined to comment those allegations. Deputy spokesman Simak Hirawi said Karzai would hold a news conference on Saturday to answer journalists questions. Meanwhile, French Industry Minister Eric Besson called Friday for WikiLeaks to be banned from French servers after the whistleblower website ended up there after being kicked out of the United States. This Internet site... is apparently since Thursday partly hosted by French host OVH, Besson wrote to the CGIET, the highest body governing the Internet in France. This situation is unacceptable. France cannot host Internet sites that violate the confidentiality of diplomatic relations and put in danger people protected by diplomatic secrecy, Besson wrote, asking the CGIET to find a way to remove the site. Meanwhile, Deputies from one of Germanys governing parties urged Washington Friday to sack the US ambassador in Berlin, Philip Murphy, in the wake of WikiLeaks revelations that were embarrassing for both governments. Hans Michael Goldmann, an MP from the Free Democrats (FDP), junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkels ruling coalition, told the daily Bild that Murphy could no longer serve as an effective go-between. Mr Murphys behaviour is unseemly, Goldmann said. Such an ambassador should be called home. Another FDP deputy, Bijan Djir-Sarai, echoed the sentiment: It is more than doubtful whether Mr Murphy can still be a trustworthy interlocutor. However Merkels spokesman Steffen Seibert said Berlin would continue to work with Murphy.